To Keep a Promise
by Ability King KK
Summary: Yoh still owes Mari a promise.  NOT, I repeat, NOT a Yoh x Mari one-shot.


**My first "Shaman King" one-shot. This is based on one of my favorite scenes from the series, which you'll find out as the story goes. What I find surprising is that I have found no other fics based on this scene, which I find sad since it was such a cute scene in the series. Anyway, enjoy!**

**-:-**

They stared at the girl before them in shock and awe. They haven't seen her since the battle with Hao a few months ago and had thought she had just left with her friends. The question on most everyone's mind, what was she doing here?

"What the hell are you doing here?" yelled the ice blue-haired Horohoro, getting on guard with his snowboard strapped to his arm.

"She's probably here to try and attack us," said Tao Ren, unconsciously stepping in front of the silver-haired red-eyed girl standing next to him. "She probably wants revenge for Hao."

"Oi, Mari. How's it goin'?" greeted Yoh casually with a smile.

"Don't be so laid back!" yelled Ren and Horohoro.

The girl before them was none other than Mari. She was once one of Hao's followers during the Shaman Tournament. Along with her was her Spirit Ally, Chuck.

"So Mari, why are you here? Shouldn't you be with Kanna and Macchi?" asked Yoh, ignoring his friends' yelling. Mari just shook her head.

"Kanna and Macchi left Mari all alone, so Mari came looking for Yoh. Yoh still owes Mari a promise," explained Mari. Yoh just smiled at the younger girl.

"Oh, that's right. I promised to play with you, didn't I?" asked Yoh, receiving a nod from Mari. "Alright then, let's go!"

Yoh stood up, gaining looks of surprise and confusion from his friends and a suspicious look from his fiancé, Anna.

"But Master Yoh! You're not serious, are you? She's one of Hao's minions!" yelled Ryu.

"Don't worry 'bout it, Ryu. Besides, I made a promise and I plan to keep it," laughed Yoh.

With that, Yoh left the inn with Mari following close behind. A few minutes of watching the passed before Anna turned to glare at Ren, Horohoro, and Ryu.

"Follow them."

"I beg your pardon?" questioned Ren, glaring back

"You heard me! I don't trust that girl with Yoh, so I want you three to follow them and make sure nothing happens. Got it?" said Anna, her glare intensifying. Horohoro and Ryu were the first to cave out of fear.

"Sir, yes sir!" they yelled, complete with a salute.

They grabbed hold of Ren by the shoulders and tried to drag him out, but the younger Tao fought back.

"Would you two idiots let go of me? I have no intention of following that lazy Asakura anywhere!" yelled Ren, struggling to escape.

"Ren, just go and make sure nothing happens to Yoh. He is your friend," said Jun, Ren's older sister.

"Please, Ren-kun?" begged the silver-haired girl, who was known as Iron Maiden Jeanne.

"…Damn the both of you," muttered Ren, letting the other two shamans drag him away.

-:-

With Yoh and Mari, the two of them was walking down the street, looking for something to do. Well, Yoh was. Mari seemed to be interested in everything else. It was the first time she had been in the city like this.

"Oi, Mari, what did you want to do? Any ideas?" asked Yoh, turning his head to look at the blonde.

"…Mari does not know. Mari just wants to play with Yoh."

"Well, we could always go to the arcade. How 'bout it? Ever been to an arcade?" asked Yoh. Getting a negative response, Yoh gave her a grin. "Don't worry. You'll love it!"

"O-Okay."

As the two headed to their new destination, Yoh's Spirit Ally, the samurai known as Amidamaru, decided to speak up.

"Lord Yoh."

"Yeah, Amidamaru?"

"I believe that we are being followed," said the samurai. "It appears to be Ryu, Horohoro, and Ren."

"I know. Anna must've sent them," laughed Yoh.

"Shall I inform them that we know they are there?"

"Nah. Let's just enjoy today!"

Reaching the arcade, Yoh and Mari entered the building and were greeted by loud noises and blinking lights. Mari clutched Chuck closer to her, as she was afraid. She had never heard so many noises before in her life and didn't know what to do. The only thing she could think to do was to step closer to Yoh for protection.

"Mari is scared," she said.

"Don't worry, Mari. There's nothing to be afraid of."

Trusting Yoh's word, Mari followed him further into the arcade where for the rest of the day they played the video games, ski ball, and whack-a-mole, which surprisingly, Mari got more points than Yoh her first time playing. Having fun with Yoh has become one of the few times in Mari's life where she was actually happy.

"Thank you for playing with me, Yoh."

"No problem, Mari. It was fun."

"…Can Mari call Yoh, Niisan?" asked Mari.

Yoh was surprised by such a request, but just gave the younger girl his signature grin.

"I don't see why not. Sure."

Mari gave off a small smile and hugged Yoh, who gave a one-armed hug in return.

With Horohoro, Ryu and Ren, they saw everything that happened, but because of the noise, they couldn't hear what was said between Yoh and Mari. Horohoro and Ryu, being whom they are, overreacted and thought Yoh was cheating on Anna. They grabbed Ren and ran back to the inn to give their report and hoping that Anna didn't take her wrath out on them.

-:-

Yoh and Mari walked back to the inn, unaware of what horrors awaited Yoh. Entering first, Yoh was greeted to a fist to the face.

"Gah!"

"Lord Yoh!" cried Amidamaru in worry.

"A-Anna? What was that for?" questioned Yoh, holding the eye that was hit.

"If you honestly think you can see another woman behind my back without getting some sort of punishment, you are mistaken!" growled Anna, glaring at the Asakura boy.

"…What?" asked a confused Yoh.

Just then Mari got between Yoh and Anna and glared up at the older girl.

"Don't hurt Niisan! Niisan didn't do anything wrong!"

It was silent for a few moments after Mari's exclamation. Anna then turned to glare at the three, well two, who told her what they saw.

"I told you two idiots that you overreacted. As if Asakura was stupid enough to cheat on her," growled Ren, still angry that he was dragged into this.

"Master Yoh! We're sorry! We didn't know!" cried Ryu, bowing as low to the ground as possible in apology.

"Its okay, Ryu," laughed Yoh. "It was just a little misunderstanding."

"Why is she calling you Niisan, Yoh?" demanded Anna, glaring at her fiancé.

"Huh? Oh, she wanted to call me that and I said sure. Simple as that," grinned Yoh as he patted Mari on the head.

"Niisan played with Mari. Mari very happy," said Mari, giving a small smile and hugging Chuck closer.

Anna lessened her glare a little and turned her head away, not looking at Yoh in the eye.

"Yoh?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm…sorry."

It was very rare for Anna to apologize for anything, so Yoh and the others weren't really expecting her to do so. Getting over his shock, Yoh just laughed it off.

"Its okay, Anna. Like I said it was a simple misunderstanding. No big deal," said Yoh. He then let out a yawn. "Man, I'm beat. Mari, since it's getting late, you can stay here at the inn for the night. I'll show you to your room."

"Okay, Niisan."

Once Yoh and Mari left down the hall to the spare rooms, Anna turned to Horohoro and Ryu, fire and anger in her eyes. They each gulped in nervousness.

"As for you two," she growled.

-:-

Night had come and everyone was now asleep. Yoh and Anna were in their room, Anna lying atop of Yoh, her head resting on his chest.

Ren unfortunately was sharing a room with Horohoro and Ryu, who were both badly beaten by Anna. They wished that they were healed by morning, but some wishes just don't come true.

In a room across from Ren, Horohoro, and Ryu's, slept Jun and Jeanne, who were talking about Ren earlier before thy went to sleep. If Ren had know what they had been talking about, his face would most likely have had made a new shade of red.

Lastly, in a room next to Yoh's room, slept Mari. Holding Chuck tightly, she slept with a smile on her face. She looked forward to playing with her Yoh-niisan again. Maybe tomorrow if he can.

**FIN**

**-:-**

**I really hoped I got everyone in character. The only one I'm not really sure I wrote correctly is Mari. She doesn't appear much in the manga so far and I don't remember how she acts in the animé, which is where I saw my favorite scene. It's been a very long time since I've watched the animé version and I've only read up to volume 23 of the manga so far.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my first "Shaman King" fic. Ja ne!**


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